Dear Haley
by rachel2502
Summary: Dear Haley, its Nathan. A letter Nathan wrote to Haley during World War 2.


Dear Haley,

I know I'm not a very good writer nor am I good at showing my feelings but I thought this one time, I could give it a shot. For you.

Do you remember the first time we met? You were a voluntary nurse at that hospital for soldiers wounded during battle and I was one of your patients. I remember being so mad that I got hurt in the middle of the war because I wanted to fight. I wanted to go out into battle and fight for my country because I had nothing to go back to. But I realize now that getting injured was the best thing that could ever happen to me because it brought me to you.

I remember the time and date. 5.03 pm, 16th December 1941. That was the first time I set my eyes on you. I had passed out during battle after getting shot in the leg and I woke up in a hospital bed with you beside me. You were tending to my leg, do you remember that? I asked for your name but you wouldn't give it to me. I told you my name was Nathan but you laughed and said that there were so many soldiers in that hospital that it would be a miracle if you remembered. I never told you my name again.

You acted like I was just another soldier but every night when your shift was over, instead of going home, you stayed with me. We laughed and talked into the night. I was in pain, Hales. The pain in my leg was always there but I hid it. I didn't want you to know how much it hurt so I pretended I was okay. When you left me early every morning, you would say "Bye Soldier" because you said you had forgotten my name. And I would just call you "Nurse S" for you never told me your name. I never told you what the S stood for.

Do you remember that day when my leg finally healed and I could walk? I never told you because I wanted to surprise you. I still remember the look on your face when I greeted you early one morning at the entrance of the hospital. You first didn't realize it was me as you just passed me without looking up. Then you did a double take. The look on your face changed from shock to total happiness in just a second. You ran up to me and hugged me and I lifted you up and that was the moment I knew that I loved you.

We were so in love that we forgot that there was a war going on. We never realized how soon our time together would end. I was out of the hospital but I came to see you everyday. I brought you flowers, chocolates anything I could afford or sometimes things that were out of my budget but I bought them because I loved to see that look on your face when you received them. But one day when I visited you, the only thing I brought was a letter. A letter from my old General requesting me to come back into battle. It wasn't a request; we knew that, it was a command. And just like that, I had to leave you.

All the pain that I had witnessed or had gone through during this war, none of that could even compare to the pain that I felt that rainy day at the train station when we had to say our goodbyes. I hugged you and told you that I loved you. You told me that you loved me too and you sounded like you were going to cry. As we hugged, you whispered against my ear "Don't go. Please", with a crack in your voice while you held back a sob. My heart nearly broke into a million pieces. I didn't know what to say, Hales, I didn't know how to make you feel better.

So, I just turned and walked away because I couldn't bear to see you in pain. I got on the train just as the whistle blew. As the train started to move, I stood at the door, not ready to shut it even as the train was picking up speed. All I could do was stare at you as you ran to keep up with the train.

"Haley", you shouted suddenly. Do you remember saying that?

"What?" I remember shouting back as I couldn't hear you with the rain pouring around us.

"Haley James!" you shouted as you ran alongside the train. "My name is….Haley! Haley James!"

The train was going too fast. For a minute I was tempted to jump off but I couldn't. I didn't. Instead I shouted "I love you Haley James!"

You couldn't run anymore. You were too tired. So, instead you just stood there and shouted "I love you too, Nathan!" You remembered my name. I only told you my name once before but you remembered it.

We stared into each others eyes as the train moved on. When you thought I couldn't see you anymore, you collapsed on your knees and cried. But I saw you cry, I saw every tear that fell from your eyes. Don't ask me how. Maybe I was imagining it, maybe it was true love, but even as we were 800 meters apart, I saw you sitting on that platform in the rain, your hands covering your brown eyes as you wept. But I wished I didn't see a thing.

I saw many things during the war. I saw my friends, who fought beside me during the war die in front of my eyes. I saw men in so much pain with no hope of surviving lying on the ground looking at me with pleading eyes, begging me to kill them. Sometimes I ended their misery and sometimes I just sat next to them and held their hands as they drew their last breathe. They would wake up in a better place but I would live to fight another day. They were dead, Haley but so was I in a way. Because I was only alive when I was with you.

Your letters were the only thing I looked forward to. You wrote everyday .I tried to reply every letter but most of the time I couldn't. In every letter you would tell me how much you loved me. You would also beg me to tell you what the S in Nurse S stood for. I used to call you Nurse S, remember? I would never tell you but now I wish I did. There are 265 letters hidden somewhere safe. 265 letters. One for everyday we were apart during the war.

One of the best moments of my life was when I got leave for a few days. It was one of the best moments of my life because I knew I would get to see you. I didn't tell you that I was coming. I wanted to surprise you.

I remember that day so clearly. I was walking to the hospital where you worked, wearing my uniform proudly for attached to it were several medals. My right hand held a bouquet of daisies, my left a box of chocolates. It was a beautiful day. I was about 400 meters away from the hospital when I saw you go in. You looked beautiful, I could tell even from a distance. The moment I saw you, I ran to you. You disappeared into the hospital for you never saw me. But still I ran.

I never saw the plane flying towards our direction. I only noticed it when it flew above me. I knew something was going to happen. My good mood dissipated and my instinct was screaming at me to run but I couldn't! You were in the hospital, I had to save you. I was too far away, Hales, too far away to do anything. But I still ran, to the hospital, to you. I still ran.

The plane never stopped. It just flew over the hospital and on the way, it dropped a hand grenade. I saw it drop down. I saw it as I ran. All my hopes and dreams rested on that hand grenade. I pleaded with God to make it stop falling.

"No!" I shouted as the hand grenade came in contact with the hospital's roof. The hospital immediately blew up. The momentum of the explosion sent me catapulting 600 meters away. I whacked against the wall of a building and passed out for a moment. When I came to, everything was on fire, the buildings, the trees all on fire and the hospital….was gone. Just like that. What stood in its place was a deep hole in the ground. And just like that everything I cherished, everything I loved was gone. I remember running to the hole, screaming your name. I think my arm was on fire too. But I don't recall any physical pain, just the overwhelming pain in my heart.

I think I passed out again. I can't remember. All I know was that the moment I knew you were dead, I wish I was too.

I never told you what the S in Nurse S stood for. It stood for Scott which is my last name. You see, the day you died, I was going to ask you something that I have wanted to ask you from the day I met you. I was going to ask you to marry me.

Always and Forever,

Nathan.

Nathan stood in front of the tomb stone, holding the letter in his hands. He had written it years ago and had placed it on her tomb stone. She didn't have a grave for there was no body to bury.

Nathan's male nurse stood a few feet away from him. You see, the day of Haley's funeral, right after Nathan wrote that letter, he started having flashbacks of the time he and Haley spent together. And he slowly went mad.

Nathan Scott had forgotten many things. He didn't know how to read or talk in sentences. He didn't know who his family and friends were. He didn't even know his own name. But one thing he never forgot was to visit her tombstone. Because she was the only thing he still remembered.


End file.
